Don’t Believe in No-Win Scenarios

Amy Beth Christenson

Amy Beth Christenson is a Senior Concept Designer at Lucasfilm Animation, working on the animated series Star Wars: Rebels. She has created concept art for videogame titles such as Bounty Hunter and The Force Unleashed I and II. Her specialties include concept designs, lighting concepts, storyboards, matte painting, 3-D modeling and textures.

Christenson hails from the small farm town of Greensburg, Kansas, where she grew up in a household of avid Star Trek and Star Wars fans. She pursued art training at the Kansas City Art Institute and the Ringling School of Art and Design, graduating in 2000. She joined Lucasfilm soon after, ascending the ranks from concept designer and visual development artist to her current responsibilities. Her artwork can also be found in several art publications and as Acme Archives prints.

She lives in San Rafael, California.

What was your inspiration?

Kirk’s quote about no-win scenarios has always stuck with me, and so I wanted to work out a visual that focused on the rogues of Star Trek, from as many of the movies and individual series as possible. I was also happy to have a mix of characters that were both humorous and serious, since I appreciate that situations can be both. It represents how we are all faced with many kinds of obstacles, but that there is always a way to overcome them.

What excited you most about the opportunity to get involved in this Star Trek 50th anniversary art project?

I’ve always been a huge fan of Star Trek. Watching every movie and each television series (and even reading most of the novels) really inspired me to work on sci-fi. Getting to be a part of this project was my chance at expressing my love for the franchise.

What else about your piece do you think Star Trek fans should know?

Besides the quote being very motivational to me, I was also very happy to have “Crazy” Sulu as one of the characters. Those scenes from “The Naked Time” are my favorite, and George Takei is amazing.

You are known for your work on Star Wars. So, how was it to approach Star Trek?